The stock coils were dying. Then they finally went. So I thought.... upon removing the plug wires to replace them with a new set while replacing the coils, the tips of the spark plug broke off and stayed inside the plug wires. I did not "pull" them off. They simply came off after barely touching the plug wires.

the E-shaft sensor was extremely covered in oil and grime. I sprayed it down with purple power and warm water. Then finished it off with some brake cleaner to get the last remaining gunk off.

so, good plugs, coils, plug wires, and clean e-shaft sensor. What might be the cause of my no spark issue?

Possible dead e shaft sensor?

how would one check to see if the e-shaft sensor is still good?

 

Possibly the capacitor/condenser...

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...5/#post3806990

can't find it though. Anyone know exactly where its located?

 

How are you testing for spark? Timing light?

 

While the car is cranking, I removed the spark plug wire from the coil. While holding it close to the coil there should be a visible spark. Also I would be able to hear it. This was done at night as well. No spark at all.

I know most would not reccomend doing it this way. But it's a very fast and accurate way to see if there's spark. I've done it MANY times over the years on various cars. Only been shocked once... lol.

 

Does the tach move while you're cranking? If it is, you have ESS signal. If you don't there's your problem. I'm thinking the sensor is fine.

Which coil are you checking? I don't think the trailing ones fire while starting by design, so make sure you picked a leading one.

If it is indeed a leading plug and you're really not getting spark (I'm not sure about your methodology as applied to RX8's coils, maybe get a timing light), then I'd start looking at fuses or something else that could knock out the entire ignition system. Nothing else comes to mind.
But, I'd also consider the possibility that it's flooded or the starter is spinning too slowly to start the car, and you are indeed getting spark but the way you're testing for spark is giving you false results.

 

Swapped the E-Shaft sensor with one I had on another motor. Kinda sorta wanted to start... but not really. Which meant there was improvement. The original has rust/corrosion in the terminals.

Old Rx7 trick... Pull the spark plug wire boot slowly from the coil as the car is cranking. This will increase the spark energy by making it "jump". I got the car running like this.

Then using my original method of checking for spark at the coils, I checked each coil one by one. Leading 1 = Dead. Trailing - 1 = Big spark. Leading 2 = Weak spark. Trailing - 2 = Dead.

D585 Coils on order...

 

Sorry to take this over but i cant open a new thread, I bought an 04 RX8 back in may, owner had replaced the stock renny with a used 30k one, back in November i replaced the tranny, made sure to buy a new clutch and flywheel, as well as bought a braided line for the clutch line, everything worked fine, in December i started experiencing hard cold starts, it would take a good 8-10 seconds to fire up, though when warmed up and hot it would fire up right away, anyways, a few days ago a couple buddies and I were going out to eat when all of a sudden it lost a lot of power, it soon turned off on me a few seconds later, after trying to start it back up, it didn't want to, it cranked but something was off, I got it towed home and a few hours later I got it to turn on and only 1 rotor was working, I had replaced the spark plug wires 1K ago, i bought new coils and spark plugs, put them in, and ti seemed like it helped but still only 1 rotor would work, I checked for spark by using a tool that you connect to the wire end to the plug and lights up every time theres a spark, all 4 wires were getting spark, i deflooded it with all the plugs out and made sure to disconnect the fuel pump and coils, and turned it over in 5-8 second intervals making sure to wait 10 seconds after each, and making sure to wait a few minutes after a minute of deflooding. after that I got new plugs for the front rotor (I assumed I fouled them) and then cranked to confirm both rotors were turning. after, I put everything back together, and still the front rotor wont turn on, only the back one does, once again I took out the plugs and the front rotor plugs did get fuel, obviously they both did since the rear one turned on, I don't know what could be wrong. I was driving and out of no where it seemed like I lost a rotor.

 

You can absolutely open a new thread in the new member section.

As for your issue, how are you determining that only the front or only the rear rotor is turning on? That's kinda difficult to tell just by looking at it.

Are you absolutely sure the correct spark plugs are connected to the correct coils? If you had wired trailing to leading or something like that, it would definitely not work.

Suggest you start your own thread with that info included.

There is a possibility your front rotor pitched a seal, was there any metal shrapnel on the spark plugs you took out?

 

the plugs were just wet, I didnt see any shrapnel, and will do thanks!

 

Pro Tip.

Make your posts easy to read. That giant paragraph scares off people who may help you. Break it up into small clear strait to the point statements.

For example... Every post in this thread is done that way except for yours.

 

Yeah that doesn't make sense. If your front rotor is getting fuel and spark then it will work.

If your ignition components work, I'd check the battery for trouble at cold starting. Either something is drawing power when you have the car off(aftermarket stereo and alarms are common culprits) or your battery plain can't hold a charge.

 

Battery is new, got it on thanksgiving
I dont have anything aftermarket other than a subwoofer in the trunk, but i've had that since may and never had any issues with starting until december after a transmission swap, and even then it still turned over and turned on, took a few seconds to turn on but nonetheless it turned on, didnt have any issues until a few nights ago when it suddenly lost power on the road going about 60, thankfully I was able to pull onto the side before it stopped completely.